Politicians’ kin a favoured lot in Kashmir

Significantly, this is not an isolated incident of the involvement of a close relation of a senior ruling party leader, in the militancy. In fact, the kin of a number of National Conference leaders had not only been allegedly involved in militancy, but many of them were also detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA) during the Governor’s rule in the State.

Substantiating this,sources said that a ruling party leader, Shabnam of Surankote, was detained under PSA about three years ago, on charges of involvement in militancy. The detention followed interception of some local youths by the troops from near the Line of Control (LOC), who revealed that they had been sent by Shabnam, for arms training in Pak Occupied Kashmir (POK).

The National Conference leader remained lodged in the Central Jail at Jammu, until the restoration of popular Government headed by Farooq in the State. At present, he is the block President of the ruling party in Surankote, sources in the police said, and added that he had been the man responsible for inciting local youth to join militancy in the border Poonch district.

Similarly, the son of Sadiq Malik, a ruling National Conference Member of the Upper House of the State Legislature (MLC) from Darhal in Rajouri district, was still detained under PSA on charge of his involvement in militant activities. He is, at present, lodged in the Jammu CentralJail.

Not only this, the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Pan Islamic Harkat-ul-Ansar (HUA), Parvez Baba, had named a senior National Conference leader, Ali Mohammad Naik, as one of their sympathisers. The copies of the extracts of Baba’s interrogation report, which were released to the media by the State’s Director General of Police in a press conference about an year ago, quoted the militant leader as having disclosed that Naik had sympathies with them and he used to give them legal advice in respect to their detained accomplices.

Naik is, at present, Revenue Minister in the Farooq Cabinet, sources said. There are many others in the ruling party against whom people have been levelling allegations of their involvement in militancy from time to time, sources added.

A number of people allegedly involved in militancy enjoyed a lot of clout in the ruling party and the administration. In this connection, sources said Shabnam — a National Conference leader — had his two close relatives at senior positionsin the State Police. While one of them was in the Intelligence wing of the police, another was in the Chief Minister’s security.

A senior police official said that it was difficult enough to lay hands even on ordinary party workers for their involvement in militancy or criminal activities, so to arrest the kins of senior National Conference leaders, was virtually impossible. In this connection, he referred to the detention of one Billo of Kalakote under PSA, about three months ago. The detenu — an ordinary worker of the ruling party — was a notorious criminal and had even raped a three-year-old girl.

However, the Home Ministry has recently withdrawn the order detaining him under PSA, on the ground that the the charges against him were of a general law and order problem, the official said.

Sources said that under the given situation, even the District Magistrates at various places were delaying the issuance of detention warrants, recommended by police, by two to four months. This, sources said, wasgiving enough time to the accused to approach the court for seeking bail, they added.